Corcoran: Selby hated on like none other

Kansas' Josh Selby reacts against Richmond during a game in the NCAA college basketball tournament on March 25 in San Antonio. On Thursday, Selby announced via Twitter that he wasn't returning to KU for his sophomore season, opting instead to declare for the NBA Draft.

It was one of those court shows that televises petty and hilarious lawsuits.

The dispute was over an eBay purchase. The plaintiff had won an auction for a phone and about a week later received in the box a photo of a cell phone. Somewhere in the ad, the defendant argued, it described this item as a photo of a cell phone. This was her business model and an iron-clad argument.

The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, who I assume mailed the defendant a photo of her middle finger at some point thereafter.

Now, I have to imagine I’d be sort of angry if this happened to me, but anger wouldn’t really explain it. You get angry if someone sells you a broken phone. If someone sells you a picture of a phone, you get angry, but also incredulous. After staring at it for a couple of moments, you might even laugh.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

That, or something like it, has been the general reaction to Josh Selby’s Twitter announcement Thursday that he is declaring for the NBA draft. Incredulity runneth over. It’s almost as if people are mad at him for making them feel dumb.

And let me express here that I think Selby is making a mistake the likes of which has never been made by a Kansas player in program history.

But I say that based only on having seen him play for one season. I’m being 20 percent sarcastic about that, but 80 percent serious. I suppose it is plausible that there are a couple of NBA general managers who liked him so much as a high school player they’re willing to overlook his poor collegiate output.

It is further plausible that Selby has an agent who knows this, and has told him. Carmelo Anthony’s business manager, after all, is a personal friend. I’m not trying to predict the future.

It’s just that I haven’t seen a decision so universally ripped since they cancelled Arrested Development.

Judging by his Twitter feed, Selby and his friends have interpreted this reaction as hate. That is meant not as true disdain, but more in a “player hatin’ ” kind of way, which is different. But even with that connotation, that interpretation misses the mark. A player hater is somebody who would dog Marcus Morris for leaving early.

A critic of Selby is someone who is both incredulous and realistic. It is someone whose brain is fighting a battle between two facts -- 1) Selby was mostly a poor college player, and 2) he is declaring for the NBA draft -- that don’t seem like they should co-exist, don’t seem like they could co-exist.

People aren’t angry at Josh Selby for leaving KU, they’re angry at him for making their heads hurt.

There is a popular Internet meme based around the idea that “haters gonna hate.” That sentiment is not exactly new; it used to be the old “sticks and stones” rhyme. But it is an idea the Internet was uniquely likely to popularize.

This is because the Internet makes hating on someone incredibly easy. It can be done anonymously, instantaneously, and limitlessly. Someone who was born in 1990, as Selby was, has grown up with this, but even if you’re older, if you spend much time on the Internet, you’ll get familiar mighty quickly. Haters are ubiquitous.

The effect of all this has been a devolution of criticism. You are either a supporter or you are a hater, and all criticism is reflexively interpreted as petty hate, making it easier to dismiss.

Because, hey, haters gonna hate, right?

Because Selby is a part of this generation, and because he chose the Internet as the medium for his announcement, and because of the way he performed this season, he was probably more likely to a) be hated on and b) experience that hate more than perhaps any draft declarer in history.

He had the means to make an incredibly unpopular and befuddling announcement to a huge sea of mostly random people, and those people had the ability to instantaneously communicate what they thought about it directly to him. It was as if Selby made an announcement on a conference call with the Internet at large. As far as I know, this cocktail of factors is unprecedented.

What I’m saying is, if it is true that a tree falling in the woods only makes a sound if someone hears it, Josh Selby on Thursday probably became the most hated-on college basketball player of all time.

Probably that title previously belonged to J.J. Redick, but even as recently as Redick was at Duke, the public’s ability to communicate directly with him was miniscule compared to that ability with Selby.

When people hated on Redick, they did it on message boards or with cardboard signs in arenas and on talk radio stations. Some people probably got his email address or phone number, but for the most part the hate existed in the ether and in corners of the Internet Redick would have to actively seek.

Further, the people who passionately hated J.J. Redick were pretty much just idiots. He wrote some crappy poetry, but other than that he never really did anything except be white and play basketball really well. He never did anything that was really worth hating on for logical reasons.

The opposite is true of Selby, who to my knowledge has not written poetry of any kind and was not necessarily disliked by anybody during his college career and did not even play basketball particularly well. By the end, he had become an inconsequential bench player.

I don’t necessarily think this was a failure on his part -- when he was healthy, he was sometimes dazzling -- but that is beside the point. People aren’t hating on Selby because they resented he was good, they’re hating on him because it appears he thinks he is better than he actually is.

It’s like people received only a picture of Josh Selby, when they bargained for the real thing.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of
civility. Posts and comments do not reflect the views of this site.
Posts and comments are automatically checked for inappropriate
language, but readers might find some comments offensive or
inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the
"Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

I don't hate or even dislike Josh. I feel money and bad advise is getting him in trouble. I pray he finds his way and ultimately succeeds. I am [filtered word] he skipped the banquet without a comment. The School, Team, Coaches and Fans supported him during his tough times. He could have at least showed up for the banquet since someone is paying his expenses in Las Vegas he could have caught a plane for the night. Big mistake Josh .. People who care about you shouldn't be treated with such disrespect after they went out of their way for you.

One of the differences between Selby and Henry was how the departure was handled and how they felt about it. Henry gave a news conference during which it was pretty obvious from what was said and his reactions that he probably really did not want to go. His "crazy" dad pushed him into that decision. Henry really loved KU and Lawrence and the team.

Selby - he didn't want to be there and tweeted his decision after missing the team banquet.

I don't wish harm on anyone, but fear that Selby made a mistake. Yes, he will make more money than I ever will for a short time. (I will wait to see if he signs a SECOND contract or if he is in Turkey by that time) But with what I have seen of him, that money will not last him very long.

Corcoran is a fine writer, as are most CJ columnists. He has an irreverent style, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, and it actually works really well when covering the irreverent antics of KU and the sports world in general.

I am an authority on the subject, you are not.

I can deduce from your own writing and the content you typically comment on that you are not a well-read or particularly highly-educated person.

There is nothing wrong with that, and in reality it makes you very status-quo, but your common sense should dictate that you have no credible input into any discussion concerning how a college graduate writes on a professional level.

I'll thank you to use this to inform your judgement and posting practices from here on.

Rock Chalk 4lyfe!! I must agreed with all those so call haters that Selby should have stay at KU. Yes indeed he thought he was bigger than the Jayhawk bird at center court in the fieldhouse. My fellow hawkers don't be mad because he would have blossom into a superstar and left next year. Hopefully we get another three to four year star with Selby vacated scholarship. Oh Yeah!! Elijah Johnson will be just as good as Selby would have in his career (he has raw talent and he is a team player). I will never ever hate against a player going and getting paid, nothing is promised (Good Health). As matter as fact the NBA could be in a lockout situation just like the NFL.

As far as referring to Selby or any other new NBA talent recruit as a "gangter" The real gansters are those 7 White Collar Gangsters whom are going to prison for that famous ticket scam. Be careful on how you label others!!

I'd really hate to get into it with you, but please explain to me how you are "an authority" on the subject of this article's quality. Myself, I don't really have an opinion on it, but it just seems sort of rude to just call someone out as inferior to you, whether you sugar coat it with "there's nothing wrong with that" or not. Just saying....

I never referred to Errcam as "inferior," rather I assessed his/her composition skills as those of a not learned person. This was a fair point for me to make, as it was Errcam who critiqued the quality of the article. In essence, my contention is that Errcam's post does not demonstrate sufficient writing acumen to knowledgeably comment on the abilities of a person (Corcoran) who graduated college with a professional degree in that same discipline.

As to the passage you quote from my post ("There's nothing wrong with that"), I wasn't sugar coating anything. I felt it was important to point out that there isn't anything intrinsically wrong with being uneducated or simple-minded; we couldn't all have been born with "it," after-all.

Errcam's philistine nature is not what I was bringing him/her to task for, and that's an important distinction to make as it pertains to your argument. I felt it appropriate to point out that Errcam's post (and preceding posts from other articles) demonstrated a level of cognitive and writing acumen below that of Corcoran, thus his critique is invalid.

It may not have been a particularly "nice" thing to state, but it was fair given Errcam's pointed and misguided criticism of Corcoran (and Errcam hasn't been overly nice himself in other posts).

Honestly, I don't see why you'd take exception to my post but not Errcam's. My post was fair and grounded in reasoning. Errcam's was hurtful and illogical. Perhaps you need to reflect on which sort of conduct you are more given to, since you seem offended by my voice of reason but not Errcam's overt, invalid, and dishonest attempt to inflict damage upon Corcoran's professional reputation.

Here's the thing: KU wasn't the right place for Selby. That was his mistake. The question is how best to correct it. He had two choices, either declare for the draft now or transfer. If he is drafted low or not at all, he can play in Europe for a few years and then go to the NBA. If he gets drafted higher and sent to the development league or to languish on the bench of an NBA team, he will be still better prepared over the next two years to have an NBA career than if he sits out a year plays for a year at a place like Arizona or St. John's.

Two things that some die-hard KU fans can't swallow: First, any of these alternatives is better for Selby than another year at Kansas, playing under Self's offensive scheme, especially given the lack of defensive intensity that was the most inexplicable aspect of what otherwise was an excellent season. Second, for Selby as for Wilt, C.J. Henry, the Morissi, Paul Pierce, and Cole Aldrich, KU was a means to an end. The question for them isn't whether they will leave early, but how long they will stay around. Resent it if you like, but this is big time athletics, and the top talents are not student-athletes but pros in waiting.

Enough tears for Selby already. Nobody hates him. Sports fans are what they are. They often root for a guy who plays well and is likeable. They often frown upon a guy who doesn't produce, doesn't put out the extra effort in the offseason, doesn't show a lot of humility, leaves in a less than classy way, and then twitters his tears as he bolts for the quick buck. It's not personal, not from me anyway. I'll always like the Danny Mannings more than the Kobe Bryants without ever speaking a single word to either of them. Doesn't mean I wish any harm to anybody, or think I should get to make their life decisions for them. I do get to choose who I root for though.

It was never Paul Pierce's dream to play for Kansas University. It was his dream to play in the NBA. But I consider that LA guy who plays for the Celtics a Jayhawk for life. As well as that kid from Iowa, Kirk Hinrich, who I also never spoke a word to in my entire life. Those are the guys I root for - because that's my choice as a fan.

Now that you say you based your statement solely on his rude comment, I don't really have an issue with it. I just assumed you were saying that since he didn't take the time to make his comment well written that there was no way he could properly evaluate Tully's article. But based on the writing ability displayed in some comments on here, commenters in question wouldn't be qualified to evaluate a stick figure.

But that's all I've got. I'm procrastinating on my Calc homework, you're a smart guy, would you like to do it for me? :D

1 - Selby was just killing a year so he would be eligible for the NBA, and he wasn't going to wear himself out or risk hurting himself (oops!) just to try to win some college games. He was treading water in Lawrence, and now is off to swim with the big fish.

2 - Maybe his game wasn't suited to a system that relies on teamwork, movement away from the ball, and sharp passing, and that it will translate better in the NBA, where the one-on-one game seems to dominate.

3 - He's a kid. Tell a kid he's about to be a millionaire (and for doing what he loves to do), and he's liable to believe you. We'll see if it becomes truth.

4 - KU wouldn't have been a bad place to develop his game for another year.

5 - In the end, just one more reason not to get all ga-ga over a signing ... "past performance is no guarantee of future results" ...

6 - Basketball needs a 3-Year-Rule ... One & Done is bad for the college and pro games, and for the players.

I doubt seriously that he'll be a high draft pick, if picked at all. If he does make it to the NBA, what few minutes he'll play will be an object lesson in what "playing with the big boys" really means.

sniping at each other more than at Josh, how is it that no one comments on his primary qualification for at least mop-up duty on some NBA roster?

There is no doubt that his callipygian development fits the profile of the league as well or better than any of this year's lottery picks. That alone guarantees serious vertical (hops), as long as the lower extremities can tolerate the stress. Of the returning 7 (8?) on the squad, only EJ or TR bring that kind of innate quality to the floor.